Influenced by Jake Gyllenhaal’s “sneak peek” at the Oscars wearing the unreleased Cartier Privé Tank Chinoise, this year’s Watches and Wonders is almost certain to pay close attention to Cartier’s latest releases. However, after the brand unveiled the latest works from nine major series, all attention was diverted to other pieces, including this year’s Tank Louis Cartier series and the Tank Must series.
This year, the Tank Louis Cartier, which has always symbolized the classic elegance of Cartier, has abandoned its previous dynamic design and equipped the series of watches with deep and vivid monochrome dials. It uses the brand’s classic red and charcoal gray derived from Cartier’s watchmaking works, simplifying the twelve traditional numeral hour markers to four Roman numerals, and eliminating the minute track at the bottom. The seemingly monochromatic dial is actually the first time that Cartier’s watchmaking masters have used innovative electroplating technology to precisely engrave invisible grid patterns in different directions on the dial, creating an interlacing and subtle visual effect. In addition, the grid pattern is a reproduction of the geometric pattern on the dial of the Must de Cartier watches from the 1980s.
In terms of coloring, the two color schemes are also made using different techniques: the red dial is made using lacquer art, while the gray dial is treated with electroplating. The dial is then decorated with a multi-layered shiny transfer pattern, creating a three-dimensional effect on the Roman numeral hour markers, and also cleverly creating a visual effect of changing colors through fine carving, thereby altering the sense of color depth.
The last third Tank Louis Cartier is equipped with a deep black dial, made of 750/1000 yellow K gold material, but only available in large size, more neat and distinct. The three Tank Louis Cartier models are also equipped with the Cartier 1917 MC manual winding movement, providing a power reserve of 38 hours.
As for the other series, this year sees the Tank Must series taking the minimalist route. The two new Tank Must models both feature a black dial, stainless steel case, a thickness of 6.66mm, a black alligator leather strap, and are available in large and small sizes. The reason for the “minimalist” name is due to the extreme simplicity of the dial design, completely eliminating all hour markers and indices, leaving only the brand “Cartier” logo and the words “Swiss Made” as details. Of course, the crown is still adorned with Cartier’s iconic blue synthetic spinel.
If you look through the history of Cartier in the 70s and 80s, you will find that the Tank Must watch interprets the aesthetic style of the Tank Louis Cartier pioneer watch with stainless steel material, and also bears the responsibility of developing a wider consumer base for the brand. In addition to changes in materials, the quartz movement it carries has also become one of its selling points. Even though the series has been around for over half a century, when it debuted at Watches and Wonders this year, the brand still insists on using quartz movements for the series of watches, a persistence that is full of history.
This all-black design, although quite different from the usual impression of jewelry experts, undeniably presents Cartier with a contemporary aesthetic that is both radical and conservative. However, personally, I would still like to see Tank Must released in a special gold (or brass) version after the watch exhibition. For more information on other 2022 watches recently released by Cartier, please continue to follow ZTYLEZ MAN’s follow-up reports.
資料及圖片來源：Courtesy of Cartier
